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This deliberate misinformation post getting 50+ votes on Hacker News is not surprising. Too many libertarian techbros are only a meme away from pushing pseudosc

This deliberate misinformation post getting 50+ votes on Hacker News is not surprising. Too many libertarian techbros are only a meme away from pushing pseudoscience.

kelnos 5y ago
I don't really look at it that way. I think it's useful to know about the existence of things like this, and what kind of things they say to try to support their assertions. It was pretty obvious to me after reading barely 10% of it that the conclusions are poorly-supported, but I can easily see why someone might believe an article like that. And I think that's worthy of discussion here.
- nemothekid 5y ago
  It really isn't. We are reaching a year into vaccine availability, and you'd think by now that the vaccinated would be dropping like flies at this point. In reality most people pushing vaccine hesitancy, if not being contrarian in order to appear wise, are doing so to make money from the people who have been made anxious by vaccine misinfo (it's not a coincidence that this blog is hosted on substack). It's no longer about applying reasoning, but being part of an in-group; like QAnon - almost every retort is met with deflection or claims it's out of context. And while they almost every "theory" anti-vaxxers can come with are built on anecodota or cherry picked statistics, they will require that you have several cited sources and if you trip up once; well that proves it, vaccines are unsafe. Also I get it, some may not like vaccine mandates, and being told to lockdown and told where they can and cannot go, but that does not imply the vaccines are unsafe. It's really worth as much discussion as the theory the JFK will rise from the dead and invalidate the 2020 election.
TillE 5y ago
Like I said maybe a year ago, I do think it's genuinely surprising that HN, given its general right-libertarian stance, has gone more or less full anti-vaxxer with COVID-19. It's just not a rational position, and there are no personal political biases which should logically lead there.
- JSavageOne 5y ago
  Questioning vaccine mandates and the alleged efficacy of rushed out vaccines does not in any way equate to being an anti-vaxxer. What would be more irrational would be the blind questioning of authorities without a particularly convincing track record.
- dekhn 5y ago
  It's an interesting phenomenon that I've been watching over the past few years. I have my own opinions about what's going on, but I would say that I think generally, the "what positions do people in a political clique take" has changed tremendously over the past few years. In the old days, the NY Times would have simply published an oped by William Buckley that would sum up the position of pro-freedom argument of the mainstream republican elite. and then the world would move on. Except that buckley wouldn't have done that, he would have been for mandates. Context: during the HIV/AIDS crises, Buckley proposed tattooing a big red A on the ass of every gay person with AIDS: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/00/07/16/specials/buckley-aids.html https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/00/07/16/s...
tdeck 5y ago
Aside: why does every substack article on HN seem to from this particular subculture? As far as I can tell substack is just a paid newsletter platform but I feel like I'm seeing a pattern here.
- IvyMike 5y ago
  Substack is very hands-off with moderation. People and organizations that have been deplatformed elsewhere have realized this. https://www.wired.com/story/substack-future-chris-best/ https://www.wired.com/story/substack-future-chris-best/ https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/anti-vaxxers-qanon-influencers-and-white-nationalists-flocking-to-substack/ https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/anti-vaxxers-qa...
JSavageOne 5y ago
What the hell is a "tech bro"?

This deliberate misinformation post getting 50+ votes on Hacker News is not surprising. Too many libertarian techbros are only a meme away from pushing pseudoscience.

kelnos 5y ago

I don't really look at it that way. I think it's useful to know about the existence of things like this, and what kind of things they say to try to support their assertions. It was pretty obvious to me after reading barely 10% of it that the conclusions are poorly-supported, but I can easily see why someone might believe an article like that. And I think that's worthy of discussion here.

nemothekid 5y ago
It really isn't. We are reaching a year into vaccine availability, and you'd think by now that the vaccinated would be dropping like flies at this point. In reality most people pushing vaccine hesitancy, if not being contrarian in order to appear wise, are doing so to make money from the people who have been made anxious by vaccine misinfo (it's not a coincidence that this blog is hosted on substack). It's no longer about applying reasoning, but being part of an in-group; like QAnon - almost every retort is met with deflection or claims it's out of context. And while they almost every "theory" anti-vaxxers can come with are built on anecodota or cherry picked statistics, they will require that you have several cited sources and if you trip up once; well that proves it, vaccines are unsafe. Also I get it, some may not like vaccine mandates, and being told to lockdown and told where they can and cannot go, but that does not imply the vaccines are unsafe. It's really worth as much discussion as the theory the JFK will rise from the dead and invalidate the 2020 election.

TillE 5y ago

Like I said maybe a year ago, I do think it's genuinely surprising that HN, given its general right-libertarian stance, has gone more or less full anti-vaxxer with COVID-19. It's just not a rational position, and there are no personal political biases which should logically lead there.

JSavageOne 5y ago
Questioning vaccine mandates and the alleged efficacy of rushed out vaccines does not in any way equate to being an anti-vaxxer. What would be more irrational would be the blind questioning of authorities without a particularly convincing track record.
dekhn 5y ago
It's an interesting phenomenon that I've been watching over the past few years. I have my own opinions about what's going on, but I would say that I think generally, the "what positions do people in a political clique take" has changed tremendously over the past few years. In the old days, the NY Times would have simply published an oped by William Buckley that would sum up the position of pro-freedom argument of the mainstream republican elite. and then the world would move on. Except that buckley wouldn't have done that, he would have been for mandates. Context: during the HIV/AIDS crises, Buckley proposed tattooing a big red A on the ass of every gay person with AIDS: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/00/07/16/specials/buckley-aids.html https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/00/07/16/s...

tdeck 5y ago

Aside: why does every substack article on HN seem to from this particular subculture? As far as I can tell substack is just a paid newsletter platform but I feel like I'm seeing a pattern here.

IvyMike 5y ago
Substack is very hands-off with moderation. People and organizations that have been deplatformed elsewhere have realized this. https://www.wired.com/story/substack-future-chris-best/ https://www.wired.com/story/substack-future-chris-best/ https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/anti-vaxxers-qanon-influencers-and-white-nationalists-flocking-to-substack/ https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/anti-vaxxers-qa...

JSavageOne 5y ago

What the hell is a "tech bro"?